2008–09 IFA Premiership

IFA Premiership 2008–09 Glentoran1st Premiership title23rd Irish title Bangor UEFA Champions League Glentoran UEFA Europa League Crusaders (via Irish Cup) LinfieldLisburn Distillery Curtis Allen (19 goals) Linfield 7–0 Institute Bangor 0–5 CrusadersBangor 0–5 LinfieldCrusaders 0–5 Linfield Dungannon Swifts 3–6 Crusaders 228 619 9,500http://www.irishleaguesupporters.com/attendances.php?attseason=0809 Irish League Supporters Forum - Attendances Irish League Supporters Forum 10 June 2014Linfield 3–0 Glentoran(26 December 2008) 76Bangor 1–3 Dungannon Swifts(25 April 2009) 858 2007–08 2009–10 The 2008–09 IFA Premiership (known as the JJB Sports Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 1st season of the IFA Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland (after a major overhaul of the league system), and the 108th season of Irish league football overall. Glentoran were champions, winning the league for the 23rd time. Summary It was scheduled to begin on 9 August 2008, however the start of the league was delayed by a week due to a referees' strike.All matches off as referees strike Belfast TelegraphIFA reach agreement with referees BBC Sport The season eventually began on 16 August 2008, and concluded on 2 May 2009. Linfield were the defending champions, but narrowly fell short of retaining the title as rivals Glentoran pipped them by a single point to win their 23rd league title overall. Team changes from 2007–08 The league was reduced from sixteen to twelve teams as a result of the league system in Northern Ireland being restructured by the IFA. Five of last season's sixteen Premier League teams failed to gain a place in the new twelve-team Premiership, and one new team - Bangor - gained entry from the IFA Intermediate League. Of the five teams who missed out, three - Armagh City, Larne and Limavady United failed to obtain the necessary domestic licence. Portadown obtained a licence, but was controversially excluded because a club official missed a deadline for submitting an application form by several minutes. Finally, Donegal Celtic obtained a licence, but was ranked thirteenth in the entry list, and thus missed out by one place. Team overview UK Northern Ireland right 350 Location of teams in the 2008–09 IFA Premiership UK Northern Ireland 12 54.602945 -5.891278 Belfast left UK Northern Ireland 54.87016 -6.265211 top Ballymena United UK Northern Ireland 54.65179 -5.684674 right Bangor UK Northern Ireland 55.13287 -6.659904 bottom Coleraine UK Northern Ireland 54.489581 -6.745935 top Dungannon Swifts UK Northern Ireland 54.453889 -6.336389 top Glenavon UK Northern Ireland 54.97574 -7.277176 left Institute UK Northern Ireland 54.16089 -6.332138 bottom Newry City UK Northern Ireland 55.32 -8.2 TransparentPlaceholder.png Belfast teams : BangorCliftonvilleCrusadersGlentoranLinfieldLisburn Distillery Greater Belfast 350 right Location of the Belfast-based teams in the 2008–09 IFA Premiership Greater Belfast 54.619250 -5.947383 left Cliftonville Greater Belfast 54.62428 -5.922017 top Crusaders Greater Belfast 54.60270 -5.893478 right Glentoran Greater Belfast 54.57083 -5.963302 bottom Linfield Greater Belfast 54.53607 -6.003814 right Lisburn Distillery ClubStadiumTown/cityCapacity Ballymena United The Showgrounds Ballymena 8,000 (4000 seats) Bangor Clandeboye Park Bangor 4,000 Cliftonville Solitude Belfast 8,000 (2099 seats) Coleraine The Showgrounds Coleraine 6,500 (1500 seats) Crusaders Seaview Belfast 6,500 Dungannon Swifts Stangmore Park Dungannon 3,000 (300 seats) Glenavon Mourneview Park Lurgan 5,500 (4000 seats) Glentoran The Oval Belfast 15,250 (5000 seats) Institute YMCA Grounds Drumahoe 4,000 (600 seats) Linfield Windsor Park Belfast 20,400 (14,400 seats) Lisburn Distillery New Grosvenor Stadium Lisburn 8,000 (2000 seats) Newry City The Showgrounds Newry 6,500 (800 seats) League table main WDL QR GLT Glentoran LIN Linfield CRU Crusaders LIS Lisburn Distillery COL Coleraine CLI Cliftonville INS Institute NEW Newry City GLA Glenavon BYM Ballymena United DUN Dungannon Swifts BGR Bangor y 24 9 5 63 36 C 24 8 6 69 28 16 14 8 63 45 15 11 12 53 41 15 6 17 46 51 12 14 12 52 48 13 9 16 47 55 11 11 16 47 57 11 8 19 49 63 11 8 19 39 57 8 11 19 49 71 O 9 9 20 42 67 R green1 Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round CL2 yellow2 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round EL1 yellow1 Qualification to Europa League second qualifying round Crusaders won the 2008–09 Irish Cup and qualified for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. Therefore the fourth placed team, Lisburn Distillery, also earned a spot in the Europa League. EL2 yellow2 Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round EL2 EL1b red2 Qualification to Promotion/relegation play-off RP red1 Relegation to IFA Championship 1 On 2 February 2009, Bangor announced that they would not be able to renew their domestic licence due to financial difficulties, and therefore would not compete in the 2009–10 IFA Premiership.Official statement from Bangor Football Club Therefore, they were placed at the bottom of the league and thus automatically relegated, with Dungannon Swifts given a reprieve. R complete rsssf.com 1st points; 2nd goal difference; 3rd number of goals scored; 4th head-to-head points; 5th head-to-head goal difference Results Matches 1–22 During matches 1–22 each team played every other team twice (home and away). main FBR grey BYM BGR CLI COL CRU DUN GLA GLT INS LIN LIS NEW Ballymena United 1–2 1–5 2–0 1–0 0–3 0–3 1–1 0–1 2–0 1–2 2–3 Bangor 0–3 1–1 4–0 0–5 3–1 1–2 1–2 3–2 0–5 1–0 1–1 Cliftonville 0–0 3–2 3–0 1–1 2–2 4–0 0–2 1–1 0–4 0–0 0–0 Coleraine 1–1 3–1 2–2 2–5 1–0 3–2 1–2 2–1 1–4 1–1 1–0 Crusaders 2–0 0–0 3–1 2–1 3–3 2–0 3–0 1–0 2–3 0–1 2–1 Dungannon Swifts 2–1 0–2 0–3 0–1 3–6 1–0 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–1 2–2 Glenavon 1–3 0–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 2–2 1–2 0–1 1–0 2–2 1–2 Glentoran 4–1 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 2–0 0–0 2–1 Institute 1–1 1–0 0–1 2–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 0–2 1–2 0–2 4–2 Linfield 1–0 0–0 2–1 1–0 1–0 3–1 2–4 3–0 7–0 0–2 1–0 Lisburn Distillery 1–0 1–0 3–1 1–2 1–2 0–1 6–2 1–1 5–2 1–2 1–1 Newry City 2–2 0–0 1–0 0–3 3–1 3–2 0–2 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–3 complete rsssf.com Matches 23–33 During matches 23–33 each team played every other team for the third time (either at home, or away). main FBR grey BYM BGR CLI COL CRU DUN GLA GLT INS LIN LIS NEW Ballymena United 2–0 1–3 null null 1–2 1–2 null null 0–3 1–0 null Bangor null null null 1–4 null null null 2–2 0–1 0–0 4–2 Cliftonville null 2–1 null null 1–1 2–1 1–3 null 1–2 3–1 null Coleraine 0–1 3–1 0–0 null 2–1 2–1 null null null null null Crusaders 0–0 null 4–2 2–1 2–2 2–2 null null null null null Dungannon Swifts null 3–2 null null null 1–1 0–2 null 0–1 1–4 1–2 Glenavon null 2–3 null null null null null 1–3 1–4 1–0 2–0 Glentoran 1–2 3–1 null 1–3 1–1 null 2–0 4–2 null null null Institute 0–0 null 0–2 1–0 2–2 3–0 null null null null null Linfield null null null 0–1 0–0 null null 1–0 1–0 null 1–1 Lisburn Distillery null null null 2–0 2–0 null null 0–3 1–2 0–0 3–1 Newry City 0–1 null 0–1 0–4 0–1 null null 0–1 2–1 null null complete rsssf.com Matches 34–38 During matches 34–38 each team played every other team in their half of the table once (either at home or away). Section A main FBR grey CLI COL CRU GLT LIN LIS Cliftonville 0–0 0–0 null null null Coleraine null 0–1 1–2 1–2 1–0 Crusaders null null 0–1 0–5 1–1 Glentoran 3–1 null null 1–1 3–3 Linfield 2–2 null null null 2–0 Lisburn Distillery 1–1 null null null null complete rsssf.com Section B main FBR grey BYM BGR DUN GLA INS NEW Ballymena United null null null 1–0 0–4 Bangor 1–1 1–3 1–1 null null Dungannon Swifts 4–3 null null 0–1 null Glenavon 2–1 null 3–1 null null Institute null 4–0 null 1–1 1–3 Newry City null 2–1 2–2 2–1 null complete rsssf.com Promotion/relegation play-off The relegation/promotion system was slightly modified because Bangor, who withdrew from the next IFA Premiership season, eventually finished 11th. It meant that last placed Dungannon Swifts played a two-legged match against Donegal Celtic, runners-up of the 2008–09 IFA Championship, for one spot in the 2009–10 IFA Premiership. The score was 2–2 on aggregate, but Dungannon Swifts secured their spot in the following IFA Premiership season by winning on away goals. 5 May 2009 19:45 BST Donegal Celtic 2 – 1 Report Dungannon Swifts Lyons 8McDonald 87 Adamson 50 Donegal Celtic Park, Belfast 8 May 2009 19:45 BST Dungannon Swifts 1 – 0 Report Donegal Celtic Adamson 29 Stangmore Park, Dungannon 2–2 on aggregate. Dungannon Swifts won on away goals rule and remained in the IFA Premiership. References Association football Northern Ireland Category:NIFL Premiership seasons North 1